Former Dateline reporter makes claims about NBC's Sept. 11 coverage

John Hockenberry, who was laid off from Dateline NBC in 2005, said that his former network diverted him from reporting on al Qaeda in the aftermath of Sept. 11., according to a report from Reuters.
In this month's issue of Technology Review, Hockenberry said that on the Sunday after the Sept. 2001 attacks, he pitched stories on the orgins of al Qaeda and Islamic fundamentalism.
Hockenberry claims that the then-NBC programming chief Jeff Zucker came into a meeting he was having with Dateline executive producer David Corvo and said "Dateline should instead focus on the firefighters and perhaps ride along with them a la "Cops," the Fox reality series.
NBC news says isn't impressed with Hockenberry's claim.
"It's unfortunate that John Hockenberry seems to be so far out of touch with reality," an NBC spokesperson said. "The comments are so utterly absurd, we will have no further comment."
To read the full report click here.